Weekly freshness sweep (2026-08)

[comparegamebackends-updates]

Summary

This draft PR corrects verified material changes found during the 2026-08-14 weekly freshness sweep. All edits are sourced to official vendor documentation. No files outside lib/backends.ts and lib/architecture.ts were modified.

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Changes by platform

PlayFab — lib/backends.ts (lastUpdated bumped to 2026-08)

Pricing correction (material): Development Mode free-tier limit was cut from 100,000 to 1,000 unique users per title on March 11, 2026. The previous entry still said "100K players per title." Foundation Mode (unlimited usage, no monthly bill) is now documented with the correct constraint: Xbox ecosystem developers only, new titles only in current preview, with existing-title migration planned for mid-2026.

• pricingDetails corrected
• strengths[0] corrected
• New limitation added: Foundation Mode requires Xbox publishing and is new-titles-only
• Two new sources added pointing to the official Microsoft Learn Development Mode and Foundation Mode pages

Sources:

• https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/gaming/playfab/pricing/development-mode (updated 2026-03-11 per git metadata)
• https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/gaming/playfab/get-started/mode-overview

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AWS GameLift — lib/backends.ts + lib/architecture.ts (lastUpdated bumped to 2026-08)

New capability (material): Scale-to-zero autoscaling shipped January 29, 2026. Fleet locations can now drop to zero instances during inactivity and provision automatically when game sessions are requested, eliminating idle compute costs. Not mentioned in the previous entry despite being available since January.

• globalScaling.description updated in backends.ts
• scalability.text and .tooltip updated in architecture.ts
• Source added: the official AWS documentation page for the feature

Source:

• https://docs.aws.amazon.com/gameliftservers/latest/developerguide/fleets_scale-to-from-zero.html

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brainCloud — lib/backends.ts (lastUpdated bumped to 2026-08 from 2026-02)

brainCloud 6.0 shipped around June 2026. Two factual updates:

1. GDScript platform support: multiplatformSDK previously said "Godot (via C#)". 6.0 added a native GDScript SDK (repository active as of July 2026).
2. Group Tournaments: seasonalContent updated to note Group Tournaments, which let clans and guilds compete as a single entity. Added to distinguish from the existing individual-player Global Tournaments.

• multiplatformSDK.description updated; sourceUrl pointed to the features page
• seasonalContent.description updated; sourceUrl pointed to the features page
• New source added: the brainCloud 6.0 release announcement

Sources:

• https://getbraincloud.com/features/ (lists Godot GDScript support and Group Tournaments)
• https://updates.braincloudservers.com/braincloud-6-0-with-brainbot-is-here-1x54Sk

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Platforms checked with no material changes found

• Metaplay (lastUpdated 2026-06) — No material changes found via official docs/changelog since June 2026.
• Heroic Labs (lastUpdated 2026-02) — Satori 2.0 predates the last entry. No post-February 2026 material changes verified from official sources.
• Unity Gaming Services (lastUpdated 2026-06) — Engine roadmap announcements only; no UGS backend feature or pricing changes verified.
• Colyseus (lastUpdated 2026-02) — 0.17 release appears contemporaneous with the Feb 2026 entry (QueueRoom already captured); no pricing changes found.
• AccelByte (lastUpdated 2026-06) — Modular restructure appears already reflected in the June 2026 entry.

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Reviewer checklist

• Every changed claim has a sourceUrl to official/primary documentation — confirmed
• Tone is neutral and factual — no banned superlatives or AI-tell words
• npm run lint passes (1 pre-existing warning in app/layout.tsx, 0 errors)
• Only lib/backends.ts and lib/architecture.ts were edited
• lastUpdated bumped on each changed entry

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Project	Deployment	Actions	Updated (UTC)
comparegamebackends	Ready	Preview	Aug 14, 2026 6:35am